BHUBANESWAR: India’s approach to localising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has drawn global attention and appreciation, said vice chairman of NITI Aayog Suman Bery.
Speaking at a national seminar on SDGs at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) on Saturday, he described how India has moved beyond a one-size-fits-all development strategy and is tailoring global SDG targets to local realities.
The seminar, titled ‘KISS vis-a-vis SDG: Advancing India’s SDG Agenda through Transformative Education, Volunteerism and Community-Centred Action’, focused on institutional models that translate global development goals into measurable local action.
Emphasising that SDG localisation is central to India’s vision of Viksit Bharat, Bery pointed out several states are now aligning district and block-level planning with SDG targets.
“A new governance model is taking shape, where chief ministers, state planning bodies and local institutions are setting outcome-driven goals and building delivery mechanisms to address region-specific challenges while remaining aligned with national and global priorities,” he said.
Member of NITI Aayog Arvind Virmani elaborated on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat. He advised that everyone should contribute to the realisation of Vikshit Bharat and stressed the need for quality basic education and skill development.
Programme director NITI Aayog Dr Pravakar Sahoo, founder of KIIT and KISS Achyuta Samanta, chancellor of KIIT University Ashok Kumar Parija, vice-chancellor Saranjit Singh, state Head of UNDP Abha Mishra and state head of UNFPA Md Nadeem Noor were present among others.